As the skaters shifted and swirled in a concert of organized chaos at PPG Paints Arena, the newest Penguin Stefan Noesen did what Stefan Noesen does: He planted himself smack dab in front of the net and started growing roots.
Even as Zach Trotman kept the puck in the zone and Jared McCann won a 50-50 puck behind the net and Dominik Kahun dangled in the circle, there was Noesen — his skates parked on the edge of the crease and his big 6-2, 205-pound body shielding the eyes of the St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.
Turns out, sometimes, when you don’t move an inch, you can also find yourself in exactly the right place at the right time.
When McCann fired a shot from the half boards, Noesen batted it out of the air. It settled on the ice, just waiting for the right-handed forward to flick it into the open net for his first goal as a Penguin in his very first game as a Penguin. It was also his first NHL goal since March 15, 2019 — an uncertain eight-month stretch that forced him to start back at the beginning in order to work his way back to the world’s top league.
“It felt good,” Noesen said. “Coming to a new team, it’s a way to make your mark. Usually, it’s not the way I do it. Usually, I’m more of a checking role and chip in every now and then … I happened to get behind those guys and kind of got lucky.”
Luck? Maybe a little. But not when it happens this much.
After the New Jersey Devils chose not to extend a contract to Noesen in free agency, and after his hometown Dallas Stars decided not to keep him after training camp, he signed a minor-league deal with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre Scranton. It was an extremely low-risk move by the organization. But AHL coach and general manager Mike Vellucci had faith after coaching Noesen for four years in junior hockey.
Noesen took the chance and caught fire.
In 22 AHL games, he scored 14 goals — second-most in the league. He earned a one-year NHL contract. During his one and only practice with the Penguins on Tuesday, he whacked a rebound in for one goal and set Jake Guentzel up on the power play for another. More goals.
And then, in just his second period with the Penguins, he scored the net-front goal in what became a 3-0 victory over the Blues. Somehow, the dude just keeps scoring.
Noesen credits health for some of it. A nagging knee injury that began with an ACL tear in 2013 has limited him during stretches of his career. He said the knee feels about as good now as he did during the 2017-18 season when he scored 13 goals and tallied 27 points with the Devils.
But could it also be a little bit about the Penguins’ playing style?
“I love the way that we’re playing,” Noesen said. “They kind of let us be ourselves, in a way, while playing in the structure. It did feel like at times in Jersey I wasn’t able to do that. Sometimes that’s when your confidence goes down.
“It seems like here you have a little longer of a leash, in a sense. When you can do that and you can make plays, you don’t have to hold your stick as tight. I can be me.”
Look beyond the sheer number of goals for a minute. It’s not just the fact that Noesen is finding the back of the net that’s significant. It’s how he’s doing it that could pay dividends for the Penguins — especially right now.
As you may be aware, the Penguins are hurting. They surpassed 100 man-games lost to injury on Wednesday night. While captain Sidney Crosby headlines the list — and rightfully so — Patric Hornqvist’s absence is significant in its own way. The Penguins expect the big, pesky agitator to be out “longer term” with a lower-body injury.
At one time, players like Hornqvist were ubiquitous. But now days, Hornqvist is, in some senses, a dying breed. Really, there is no one on the Penguins roster who can provide the same physicality or set up shop in front of the net in quite the same way.
Well, at least there wasn’t until Monday. But now?
“He had a Patric Hornqvist-type goal tonight,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s one of the reasons we tried him on the power play in front of the net. That’s an important position, a guy that’s willing to stand there and take the goalie’s sight lines away and then have the ability to get his stick on the pucks, whether it’s deflections or rebounds.”
The Penguins organization may have unlocked something in Noesen by allowing him to be himself. But if he can also continue to be Patric Hornqvist Light, it will help the Penguins fill a gaping void in their roster while their 32-year-old Swede is injured.
First Published: December 5, 2019, 11:15 a.m.